Wick type device for exposing liquids to the atmosphere



NOV. 4, 1952 w, WALSH 2,616,759

WICK TYPE DEVICE FOR EXPOSING uqums TO THE ATMOSPHERE Filed Au 25, 1950 ig/ .mmmm

3maentor (Ittorneg Patented Nov. 4, 1952 acla'rse WICK TY-PE DEVICE FOR EXPOSING LIQUIDS T0 THE ATMOSPHERE Ralph Wal h, tminster can. a ii ctio a st-zs, 1950,:seria1 No. 181,326

This invention relates to improved devices for exposing liquids to the atmosphere, as for in-, stance for the purpose of dispelling a volatile insecticide, deodorizing flu-id, or the like into the air, or forexposing a non-volatile insecticide for direct contact by insects.

The invention'is particularly concerned with devices of a known general type comprising a bottle or other container for holding a body of liquid, and a liquid-carrying wick receivable en! tirely within the container when- :the device is not in use but adapted when in :use :for partial with.- drawal through the neck of the container to a condition of direct exposure :to the atmosphere. The general object of the invention is to provide improvements for facilitatin the handling ,of such devices, and especially ifOl simplifying :their conversion between open and closed conditions. Particularly contemplated is an improved wick type device of the alcove character in which movement of the wick betweenits retracted and outwardly projecting positions is facilitated by interconnecting-the usual containercap and wick for movement together, so that removal-or re.- placement of the cap serves to itself automati cally withdraw or retract the wick. =-T-hus, the entire conversion process between open and ,closed conditions consistsmerely in opening and closing the cap of the bottle. "Preferably, the connection between the cap and wick is formed in a manner permanently-retaining the canto-the wick, to thus attain the addedadvan-tage of-preventing loss or misplacement of the cap-by reason of its removal from the'loottle.

Since the cap in 'a device of this character should be of the screw'type adapted for removal from the bottle only by rotation relative to the container, afurther object of the'inventionis-to so form the connectionbetween the wick and cap as to avoid any interference with such rotation of the cap. For this purpose, -I prefera bly interconnect the cap and wickhy a swivelconnection permitting rotation of the cap without corresponding rotation of the wick To assure most effective c n ro1 of the wick-:mqvements th Wi k Y and. cap may b n erconnec edi n.amanne v mitting this rotation while rnaintainin'glthe wick and cap in substantially "fixed relation axially of the bottle neck, so that the wick follows substantially exactly the removal and replacing movements of the cap.

Structural1y,'I prefer to connect thewick to the cap by means of a connecting element extending from a central portion ot the cap through an opening inaetransverse-outer orzupperportion of 2 the wick and "having head at the underside of that upper portion ,0? th wick pr ve ing W awal of t lementh head Q th s conmeet ng element may-.bearaaa nst a ba k n 3 cm.- bier at the underside. of the w ck t9 POS VQ Y 1??- mm the I head aeainstunwar mo eme t through theopenin in the wic simila ly the h ad may be epsageable at-1 de si e with t ripper endof a wickreinf g i Ward movement I- he recr at n elemen and n The upper end o t e conn cti eleme t may be astened to the capibyire ent qn W th a recess in a bos or ice pro ectin sicwpnwa dl from the cent of the cap- 1!) "The above and other features endrqbiects o the present invention 1 be bet -unde st o from :the -.f.o11owine detai d ..de i ti n of th typical embodiment illustrated in the accornpa y ns drawine wh ch 0 Fig. -:1 is a -.persnec iv iew of a .n ei-erre modi nt Q zthef ven anther ns the w c a i bottle,cap-zimpfl iflwntf 11S? :Eie. is an en a d a ticnrthrouev -.,h -upper port takenondine 2, 2of, E :ig.;1 and nt y er-inclemof- ,t de ic and 39 or c o n it s ea in .l 19 Ere-99 7 al qii -p thelli hiii1 ,12 eee se i i me'- which i thezli qilid s atmnsnhei are (in de 6f E h3 itia 9$? Ma da ccn element- WW i he ,h-" rinei t e -wocs Yela ae a -and fiQ-flihfl iamete c t thi the necknft t le- The W ckandii's henld thezcpperiendc he :mfimhgr ndiextend edc nwarsih reinforci its opposite side. The upper end of the wick thus forms a short portion l1 extending generally horizontally or transversely of the bottle neck. The wick may be fastened to the reinforcing element 55 in any suitable manner, as by a pair of wirelike staples 18 extending entirely through both thicknesses of the wick and through the intermediate reinforcing member. The lower free ends 49 of the wick element are of sufficient length to assure proper contact between the wick and the liquid in the upwardly projecting Fig. 1 position of the wick.

The cap and wick are rotatably interconnected by an elongated screw-like connecting element l3 extending downwardly from the center of the cap through a vertical opening 20 in the center of the upper transverse portion ll of the wick element. At the underside of this transverse portion of the wick, I provide an elongated platelike backing member 2| containing a central opening 22 through which connecting element 13 passes. At its lower end, connecting element It has an enlarged head portion 23 engageable with the underside of backing member 2| about opening 22 to limit the upward movement of the cap relative to the wick assembly. It is noted also that the underside of head 23 is positioned directly above and is engageable with the upper end of the reinforcing member I to limit downward movement of the cap relative to the wick assembly. As a result of this connection, the cap is free for rotation relative to the wick to permit attachment of the cap to and its removal from the bottle neck, while the wick and cap are maintained against substantial relative axial or vertical movement so that the wick follows substantially exactly all vertical movements of the cap.

Cap l2 has at its center a downwardly projecting boss or socket formed integrally with the main portion of the cap and containing a central vertical bore 26 into which the upper end of connecting element I3 is threadedly connected. The lower end of boss 25 contains an enlarged counterbore 21 within which is received a body of cement 28 for supplementing the effect of the threaded joint and positively locating the connecting element relative to the cap.

When the device is not in use, the wick assembly II is retracted downwardly to a position entirely within the bottle, and cap 12 is threadedly connected in the usual manner to neck I4 of the bottle. In order to prepare the device for use, it is then necessary merely to unscrew cap 12 and raise it relative to the bottle to the condition of Fig. 1. As the cap is unscrewed, it is permitted to rotate relative to the wick assembly by virtue of the swivel connection through element I3. When the cap is elevated to its Fig. 1 position, engagement of head 23 of the connecting element with backing member 2| at the underside of the upper portion of the wick effects corresponding upward movement of the wick to its Fig. 1 position. If the liquid within the bottle is of a volatile nature, it then passes upwardly through the wick by capillary action and evaporates into the air. If of a nonvolatile nature, the liquid is exposed to the atmosphere at the surface of the wick to produce whatever effect may be intended. It is contemplated that for some types of liquid which may be incapable of feeding to the upper portion of the wick by capillary action, it may be desirable to manually lower the wick at given intervals into the bottle for engagement with the body of liquid. When it is desired to lower the wick for this purpose, or to close the bottle, it is necessary merely to move the cap downwardly to its initial position of engagement with the neck. The cap may then be screwed onto the neck by virtue of its freedom for rotation rela tive to the wick.

I claim:

1. A device for exposing a liquid to the atmosphere comprising a container having an upwardly projecting neck portion containing an opening, a cap for closing said neck portion of the container and threadedly connectible thereto, a wick assembly receivable within said container and adapted to be partially withdrawn through said neck to an upwardly projecting position of direct exposure to the atmosphere, said wick assembly including a vertically extending flat relatively stiff reinforcing member and a wick element extending upwardly at one side of said member and then doubled back to extend downwardly at the opposite side of the member, said wick element forming a short generally horizontally extending portion at its upper end directly above the reinforcing member, a connecting element carried by the cap and extending downwardly from a central portion thereof through an opening in said upper horizontal portion of the wick element, a backing element extending horizontally at the underside of said upper horizontal portion of the wick element and containing an opening registering with said opening in the wick element and through which the connecting element extends, said connecting element having an enlarged head portion engageable against the underside of said backing element and the upper end of said reinforcing member to limit the movement of the connecting element axially of the neck relative to the wick assembly, said connecting element being rotatable relative to the wick assembly about the axis of the neck, whereby the cap is rotatable relative to the wick for attachment to and removal from the neck, and axial movement of the cap in opposite directions serves to withdraw the wick assembly to said outwardly projecting position and retract it from that position into the container.

2. A device for exposing a liquid to the atmosphere comprising a container for holding a body of the liquid and having a neck portion containing an opening, a cap adapted to close said neck of the container and threadedly connectible thereto, a wick receivable within said container in contact with the liquid therein and having a portion adapted to be withdrawn through said neck of the container to an outwardly projecting position of exposure to the atmosphere, said cap having a lug formed integrally therewith and projecting inwardly from the center thereof, a connecting element having an outer end received within a bore formed in said lug and threadedly connected thereto, and a swivel connection between the inner end of said connecting element and the outer end of said wick interconnecting them for movement together axially of the neck while permitting their relative rotation, whereby the cap is rotatable relative to the wick for attachment to and removal from the neck, and axial movement of the cap serves to withdraw the wick from said outwardly projecting position and retract it from that position into the container.

3. A device for exposing a liquid to the atmosphere comprising a container having an upward 1y projecting neck portion containing an opening, a cap for closinglsaid neck portion of the container and threadedly connectible thereto, a, wick assembly receivable within said container and adapted to be partially withdrawn through said neck to an upwardly projecting position of direct exposure to the atmosphere, said wick assembly including a vertically extending flat relatively stiff reinforcing member and a wick element extending upwardly at one side of said member and then doubled back to extend downwardly at the opposite side of the member, said wick element forminga short generally horizontally extending portion at its upper end directly above the reinforcin member, said cap having a lug formed integrally therewith and projecting downwardly from the center thereof, an elongated wire-like connecting element having an upper end threadedlyconnected into the underside of said lug, cement at the lower end of said threaded connection fastening said element to the lug of the cap, said connecting element extending downwardly from its point of connection to the cap through :an opening in said upper horizontal portion of the wick element, a backing element extending horizontally at the underside of said upper horizontal portion of the wick element and containing an opening registering with said opening in the wick element and through which the connecting element extends, said connecting element having an enlarged head portion engageable against the underside of said backing element and the upper end of said reinforcing member to limit the movement of the connecting element axially of the neck relative to the wick assembly, said connecting element being rotatable relative to the wick assembly about the axis of the neck, whereby the cap is rotatable relative to the wick for attachment to and removal from the neck, and axial movement of the cap in opposite directions serves to withdraw the wick asembly to said outwardly projecting position and retract it from that position into the container.

RALPH W. WALSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 525,646 Cox Sept. 4, 1894 2,474,605 Wheeler et al June 28, 1949 2,474,607 Wheeler et al June 28, 1949 2,520,368 Landau Aug. 29, 1950 2,572,329 Foster Oct. 23, 1951 

